Week 1 in the Books

Week 1 of marathon training using Hal Higdon’s Intermediate 1 program is in the books. I had to do a little shuffling around – not how I expected my first week to pan out, but I suspect this is what will happen over the course of 18 weeks. Here’s a rundown (no pun intended) of how I did.

Monday – XT (30 min on bike). This was somewhat interrupted. Word of advice – don’t try to cook dinner and ride on your trainer at the same time. It feels very disjointed.

Tuesday – 3mi (actual – 3.27). My pace this past week was surprisingly fast for me. If you follow me on Daily Mile you can check it out.

Wednesday – supposed to be a 5 miler but I was exhausted so I swapped out rest days. It was just one of those days where I knew I’d be slogging along.

Thursday – 3 mi (actual 3.38)

Friday – 5mi (actual: 5.36). This was the originally planned rest day.

Saturday – 5mi @ marathon pace. I averaged 8:47 here which was NOT the plan. I am trying to make a conscious effort to slow down because I am fearful that I will not be able to sustain this pace for a prolonged period of time. There’s no prescribed speedwork with this training program so I am running mostly by feel (although I wear my Garmin). If it feels comfortable I will run that pace until I can’t hold onto it any longer.

Sunday – 8mi. Hal Higdon says to NEVER skimp on your long runs. I broke the first rule of marathon training! This was definitely not planned. I headed up to Lake Placid on a whim to spectate at Ironman. So, since I got home at dusk I cut the run short to 4.01mi. I’m not too concerned because it’s early in training. This definitely won’t be happening in later weeks.

For my first week, I think I did OK. At this stage in the game, I like knowing what I have to do everyday with the luxury of a little bit of flexibility. I’m paying close attention to my diet and not overindulging which is critical.

So, getting back to Ironman. One word: WHOA. I cheered on cyclists midway through their 112mi. trek as they headed back into Lake Placid and then cheered them on between miles 18-23 of their run. I cannot even begin to imagine how much true grit you have to have within you to endure a full Ironman event. It makes my wimpy marathon training seem inadequate! While I never say never, I feel pretty confident in saying that an Ironman is definitely not in my future, but I commend all of you who take one (or more) on. It was so amazing to watch and to say that I am inspired is an understatement.

How was your weekend? Ever participate in a full or half Ironman or other triathlon? When you follow a marathon training plan, do you run EXACTLY the same amount of miles the plan tells you, or do you go over?

I’m jealous that you went to spectate at Ironman Lake Placid! That is a top contender for when we do ours in 2014, but so far Louisville is our top pick. We’ve done one tri so far and we have another coming up in August! Next year will be full of triathlons and we are volunteering at one in October.

Don’t worry about your long run, we had to break up one of ours because Mike didn’t feel well. I felt the same way as you, it was earlier on in our training so I wasn’t too worried. Keep up the good work!

Great job on getting week 1 out of the way. I always felt like I had to go over the mileage – for no other reason than that is just the way I am. btw – I can’t say it helped – so feel free to stick to the plan.

I was following the Hal Higdon Intermediate 1 program for the Marine Corps Marathon until I hurt my knee doing a mud run. I’m now 12 weeks out and ran 3.5 miles last week. I’m still trying to figure out how to get myself back on a schedule.